Mortal Kombat: The Phoenix Verison

Chapter 23: Fire and Ice

"And where have you been?"

Suddenly the hallway was illuminated, blinding Ember. She remained facing the door, not wanting to look behind her.

"I...I said in that note that I had to go get some stuff." Her cheeks were burning red.

Kuai Liang sighed. "I don't like it when you lie to me, Ember. Frost just reported you trying to sneak into the temple with Grandmaster Hasashi." He crossed his arms over his chest, watching her tense up.

Finally she turned to face him, flustered. "Okay I swear I only kissed him! Even though there weren't a lot of clothes it wasn't what it looked like!"

"You did WHAT?!" He roared. Only then did Ember realize her mistake, Frost may have seen them together but she hadn't told Kuai-Liang that much. She wanted to slap herself.

"I mean...in my defense I have needs" her voice wasn't more than a squeak.

"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR ABOUT THEM" she flinched at his tone.

Kuai Liang looked at her, speechless. He shook his head "So not only did you in fact go to Sonya-when I specifically forbid you to...but...you and him?" He needed to look away, not believing what he was hearing.

He turned away from her, staring a hole in the wall. If it had been someone he didn't know well, or even a student of his, he would've felt better after breaking a bone or two...but he couldn't do that to Hanzo. Never would that have occurred to him to be a possibility.

Ember felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "Forbid me? You can't tell me what to do"

"I am your older brother, and as long as you live in my temple I can damn well tell you what to do."

She crossed her arms. "Then let me leave! I've got a family to protect, my clan needs me"

He scoffed. "They're not your family."

"Oh, like you know anything about family"

"Watch yourself, Ember."

Irritated, she turned around to head to the kitchen. She needed a drink or two.

"You're not going anywhere," said Kuai Liang. "Especially not after you snuck out to see Hanzo"

"You can't stop me" she said, her voice pouring insolence.

His patience was running very thin. "Why must you be such an impossible girl?!"

Ember stopped. "Woman." She corrected.

"Then why don't you starting acting like one?" he growled in her face.

His dark and indifferent eyes shone with anger, which wasn't an easy feat but she seemed to anger him as easily as breathing oxygen.

Offended and unable to think of a comeback, she slapped him. The sound of her palm connecting with his face echoed through the hall.

Her eyes grew wide, full of instant regret.

She let out a yelp as he grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the wall, her feet dangling off the floor.

The pressure around her neck was just enough to get his point across. "Regardless of your age, you're old enough to respect your elders."

His voice was dangerously low, and as her fingers tried to rip his hands from her neck, she was surprised to find that she was a little scared.

"What're you gonna do?" She grinned, angrily "Freeze me again?".

"No. The last time it didn't work." He released her, "It'd be a waste of ice."

Ember looked up at him, massaging her neck. While they were on the topic-one that they usually both avoided-she glared.

"You never looked for me...did you?"

Confusion crossed his eyes, caught off guard by her inquiry. "For those nineteen years, you never bothered to search for me. I'm right, aren't I?"

Kuai Liang said nothing, watching as she got onto her feet and glared at him with accusatory eyes.

"I bet I never even crossed your mind, huh? At least, not until it became convenient."

"What are you implying?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm implying that you didn't give two shits about me until Johnny told you I was alive." Ember took a step closer "Then you thought that maybe you could use me to do the dirty work for you while you sit on your throne being an icy prick." She spat the words at him, watching his eyes widen at her colorful choice of words.

"But it was never just to find me, was it?"

"You accuse me of being a heartless brother?" He asked, astounded.

Ember rolled her eyes. "Well I'm definitely not nominating you for the fucking Best Brother of the Year Award."

"Watch your mouth, young lady. You will stay in your room until I say otherwise." He commanded before walking away. Kuai Liang wanted to leave before he said something-or did something-that he would later regret.

But Ember wasn't ready to let this go. Clenching her fists, she shouted after him "How dare you order me around!"

Still nothing, he continued to walk away.

Something dark inside her came alive, something she hadn't felt since Quan Chi's death.

"I could kill you, you know...maybe I should set you on fire and watch you burn like I did to your father."

He froze, something snapping in his brain.

Swiftly he went back to her and slapped her with so much force that she was knocked to the ground.

Cradling her injured cheek, Ember met his eyes with such contempt as he knelt down. He regarded her with a coldness he rarely ever used with her.

She lifted up a hand, wanting to slap him back but he caught it.

Kuai Liang leaned in closer to her, "I wish Bi-Han had left you with Quan Chi."

Full of white hot fury, Ember shot up to punch him with her free hand but recoiled in agony as he began squeezing the one in his grip, almost breaking it.

Abruptly, he stood back up and walked away, leaving her lying there on the floor.

"I wish I never looked for you!" Ember cried out, shaking. "I wish I forgot about you and Bi-Han...then I could've had a normal life"

Kuai Liang, although appearing indifferent, felt a sharp pain stab at his heart. Underneath his stoic facade her words hurt him. The fact that she briefly entertained the thought of killing him was alarming, although it was said in the heat of an argument.

He remained silent and kept walking away until he was out of sight.

Alone in the hallway, Ember trembled, failing to keep her eyes dry.

"...maybe I'd still have Mom and Dad"